Showing papers on "Multiculturalism published in 1980"

Which way now? : tradition, continuity and change in a North Queensland Aboriginal community

Abstract: This thesis examines the role of tradition in the continuity of Aboriginal society at Lockhart River settlement in Cape York Peninsula, Queensland. Like other remote Aboriginal communities in Australia, Lockhart is the product of an historical process of alien contact, subsequent domination and missionization. Despite deliberate European attempts to change Aboriginal ways, Lockhart people today see themselves as the inheritors of a body of traditions handed down from pre-contact times. From these traditions, people maintain a distinctive identification with the northeastern Peninsula region.Studies of continuity and change in Aboriginal societies have recently elaborated upon the concepts of tradition and identity. Tradition can be seen as an intellectual phenomenon: beliefs which relate the past to the present and which provide rules for the social order. Identity is defined in terms of ethnocentric categories of people sharing common beliefs of origin which distinguish "we" from "they", and they are present at various hierarchical levels of inclusivity and exclusivity. Both these concepts are used in this study of Lockhart society.Three major sorts of ethnographic data are presented. Firstly, an account of contact history based upon both European and Aboriginal sources is given. This information reveals a multicultural alien influence for 50 years or so until the Lockhart River mission was founded. Lugger and mining activities were entrepreneurial and based on scattered natural resources. They relied on Aboriginal labour and offered no challenge to Aboriginal occupation of the northeast Peninsula coastline. By the time the mission was established, the Aboriginal people of the region had worked out their own adjustments to foreign intrusion, free from official control. Since missionization, various European attempts to restructure Lockhart society have failed.Secondly, the current beliefs of Lockhart people about precontact Aboriginal society in the area, and the relationship between people and land are presented. These describe a close identification among people of several dialect areas who shared common systems of kinship, descent and marriage, who occupied a continuous tract of beach and adjacent upland country, and who had a common set of religious beliefs and practices. Within this broad categorization, there were finer levels of identity resolution: beach and inland, north and south, individual dialect territory, common camping area and individual estates. Overall, this resource-rich region was characterized by self-recognition of sociocultural distinctiveness across a wide but well-bounded area, relatively permanent large community camps, and a religious ideology which emphasized wider rather than intensely localistic allegiances.Thirdly, the current beliefs and behaviours of the people of Lockhart settlement are examined. Identity groups, based on traditional regional distribution, dancing and initiation ceremonies act as expressive vehicles for public group identification. The traditional systems of kinship and marriage have persisted, and these lie at the heart of a common community identity. While group identity underlies formalized community activities, ego-centred "pools" of cognatic kin give rise to various temporary and permanent coalitions for routine activities in the community. These forge links across community divisions. Settlement social processes are therefore a matter of balancing community sub-group identification on the one hand, and common community membership on the other; both are firmly based on traditional ideology.The conclusion proposes that the concepts of tradition and identity are critical in understanding social dynamics of modern Aboriginal communities. Explanations of continuity and change can only be made if the internal ideological dimensions of Aboriginal society are considered. At Lockhart, provided no alterations are made to the population base or to its location within the region of identification. Aboriginal people should continue to make adjustments based upon their own traditions despite oppressive external direction from a detached European administration which is still attempting to Europeanize the settlement occupants.

Cultural pluralism nation‐building and educational policies in peninsular Malaysia

Abstract: “Cultural Pluralism Nation‐Building and Educational Policies in Peninsular Malaysia” seeks to highlight how educational policies have been used to try to bring about a sense of national unity in one of the world's most delicately balanced culturally plural societies. It begins by showing how Malaysia became multicultural as a result of colonial immigration and educational policies. It then seeks to examine how the Malay elites of successive governments since independence in 1957 have sought to use the education system to create a harmonious multiracial society, while at the same time favouring one ethnic group (the Malays) over others. It takes three main strands — the restructuring of the school system, the development of a national language and the redressing of economic imbalances amongst the Malays — to show how these policies have been worked out. It argues that educational policies alone cannot be guaranteed to bring about racial harmony or cultural unity: instead the danger is that the opp...

Multiculturalism in Canada: A Muddle

Abstract: The policy of multiculturalism is unclear because the term culture, which had replaced the older term 'way of life,' became unclear. When the latter is restored, one sees that there are no ethnic differences in Canada about the desirability of the bourgeois-democratic way of life. What exist, apart from the Quebec question, are private or social differences in ethnic tastes, the right to pursue which is guaranteed by the fundamental unity. There is also no difference between Quebec and the rest of Canada about the fundamental way of life. For historical reasons, however, which do not exist elsewhere in Canada, the status of Quebec constitutes an ethno-political problem. As such it will have to be resolved by political dialogue, mainly, at this point, within Quebec itself.

Multiculturalism: Implications for Social Work:

Abstract: to help to enhance the quality of human life and relationships. In focusing on the multicultural pluralistic perspective, there is also increasing reference made in social science literature to the &dquo;multicultural society&dquo; and the &dquo;multicultural person.&dquo; In this context it is vital that the specific. assumptions, meaning, underlying philosophy, and implications of the term &dquo;multiculturalism&dquo; are identifi’ed and analyzed. It isn’t enough to merely refer to multiculturalism

Multicultural Education and Education Policy: The British Experience

Abstract: Two questions provide the focus for this paper: (1) Does England have a policy in regard to multicultural education, and, if so, what is it? (2) If it does have a policy, how and when did this policy get formulated? It will soon be clear that "multicultural" is being used here to mean black-white, since that is the way the problem has emerged in England. In fact, "multiracial" is the term frequently used in England. Terms, of course, vary from one country to another, so what in the United States is called multicultural, in England starts out as the immigrant problem, quickly becomes the colored immigrant problem, and now frequently in England is referred to as the education of blacks, meaning not only West Indians but also immigrants from India and Pakistan. In the 1970s "education for a multiracial society," "education for a multiethnic society," "pluralism," and "multicultural" sometimes all appeared together in a single paragraph in articles and books published in England. The time period under consideration is roughly 1950-80, though one might use 1948, when a few hundred immigrants from Jamaica entered England. As the flow of immigrants speeded up, there was growing concern about England's being overwhelmed by immigrants--colored immigrants, that is. In 1955 some 27,000 West Indians entered England, and in 1961 the yearly figure was over 66,000. From India came 5,800 in 1955 and 23,000 in 1961. Similarly, in 1961 25,000 came into England from Pakistan.' The national government responded with a law which cut back immigration drastically. In this and subsequent laws a policy clearly was in force which by implication said that England could only tolerate a limited number of people with cultures different from that of white Britons.

Ethnic Press: Its Role and Influence

Abstract: The ethnic press is a unique and essential part of Australia's multicultural, multilingual society and should be encouraged and supported so that it may continue to play a vital role in the development of Australia. The large number of foreign language papers is mostly a reflection of conditions that exists in the country of origin.

Public Library Services to Ethnocultural Minorities in Australia: A State-of- the-Art Survey

Abstract: The major task confronting all Australians is not to decide whether Australia is a multicultural society. We haue a multicultural society. The first challenge is to make it work.’ THE HISTORY OF THE AUSTRALIAN peopIe has been mainly one of immigration. World War I1 provided an impetus for massive migration to Australia by peoples of almost all parts of the world, although once the wave of immigrants displaced by the war had subsided, the preferred countries of migrant intake were Britain and countries in northern Europe.* In 1973, a policy of nondiscrimination in the selection of migrants was introduced, making the Australian society one composed of diverse ethnocultural minorities3 Currently, more than 20 percent of the Australian population of 14.5 million were born overseas, and as of 1976 almost 1.5 million of these had been born in non-English-speaking countries (see table 1). Although this diversity of nationalities has always made a significant contribution to the economic, scientific and cultural growth of Australia, it was not until the 1970s that this contribution was fully recognized, and the long-held policy of assimilation into the host society was replaced by a policy of integration. More recently, “the growing assertiveness on the part of the ethnic communities for better access to their share of the national cake”4 has contributed to a further change in policy from integration to multiculturalism, when the federal

National policy and Indian education: Should it be multicultural?

Abstract: Education is a creature of the state. It is subservient to political policies. Political decisions, in other words, define limitations within which schools perform their functions. These decisions provide the legal structure underlying education's goals. The history of American Indian education furnishes a good example of the interrelationship between politics and education. American Indians have long been regarded as wards of the federal government. Their educational history, therefore, mirrors the many shifts occurring in federal policy. To carry out its Indian policy, the federal government has created the Bureau of Indian Affairs. This agency has come to touch virtually every aspect of Indian life, including education. For most of its history, the BIA has fostered a policy of assimilation: Indian children were to be inducted into the ways of the larger society. Recently, however, this policy has come under serious criticism. A new policy is asserted now, multicultural education. What is multicultural education? No single definition adequately covers its usage. All of the different conceptions, however, share one element-a commitment to the value of cultural pluralism. In the words of Hunter: "Multicultural education is education that values cultural pluralism."1 This education seeks to encourage diversity of American society. Multicultural education attempts to help minority groups preserve their sense of ethnic identity. It enhances self-images of minority children by infusing ethnic materials into their curriculum. "Content related to ethnic diversity," says Banks, "should permeate the entire curriculum and should not be limited to social studies, the humanities, or the language arts. Ethnic content is just as appropriate for such areas as home economics, physical education, science, mathematics, and art."2

Multiculturalism in the Australian Context

Abstract: for the groups covered in this research. One of these is the numerical strength of the group. Although comparatively few Greek children took part in this research, the Greek community in Wellington is much larger and more socially cohesive than is the Cook Island community. Most of the Greeks live in the neighbouring suburbs of Mount Victoria, where the Greek Orthodox church and community hall is situated. By contrast, the Cook Island community in Wellington is small, the main settlement being in Auckland. Informal inquiries among those familiar with the Cook Island community confirm that Cook Islanders in Wellington have little community organisation and consequently little support for their language. However the Samoan community, on the other hand, is a com~paratively large one, with some degree of internal social cohesiveness, potentially supportive of language maintenance at least among the adults of the community. There are a number of social functions held where Samoan is the

Special Broadcasting Service and Ethnic Radio Broadcasting in Australia

Abstract: This paper was completed two days after the issue of the 'Second Report of the Ethnic Television Review Panel' which recommends a significant restructuring of the organization of ethnic broadcasting and the creation of the Independent and multicultural Broadcasting Corporation.

Arts Education, the Curriculum and the Multi-Cultural Society

Abstract: Publisher Summary This chapter highlights arts education, the curriculum, and the multicultural society. Ethnic minorities have brought with them valid cultures. Some aspects of these cultures are thousands of years old and have stood the test of time. They have repulsed many severe attacks from other cultures that were imposed on them through different waves of colonization. Within these cultures are art forms that ought not to be ignored as their influence in the past has helped to rejuvenate and revitalize European arts forms and more recently have treated the bases of communality on which some form of true universal art form can be constructed. The school has been much too slow so far to seize this unique opportunity of incorporating within the arts curriculum the arts of ethnic minorities. This process of ignoring can only occur to the detriment of a fully relevant and representative schools arts curriculum. Within the mosaic concept, all cultures are to have equal currency and status. A major change that has taken place in high streets everywhere in Britain is the opening of restaurants that provide multicultural cuisines that Britain was not previously accustomed to. The arts education curriculum has been unduly corseted by prevailing definitions and interpretation as to what is art.

Cross-Cultural Education and Ethnic Conflict in Guam

Abstract: Cross-cultural educational programs and strategies can be viewed as a two edged-sword. Such programs can and do work toward strengthening the quest of disinherited ethnic groups in the U.S. to cope and survive in a hostile environment. But in settings such as Guam, they can be implemented to frustrate the genuine struggles of a people in their own homeland to strengthen, maintain, and perfect their cultural integrity. The author found that in Guam, educators wanted to establish multicultural, educational curricula in the schools to help diminish ethnic conflict between the people of Guam, the Chamorros, and several groups of outsiders. The groups included American military personnel and their school children, alien Filipino laborers, Japanese business cliques, Pacific Islanders and Asians brought to Guam by U.S. immigration policies. These groups were and are in fierce competition for the scarce resources that rightly belong to the authentic people of that region: the Chamorros. The article explores the b...